The Osceola times., 1887-01-15
.or, as I .aid, on ne ground that mn

ana saw tnat III was coDra OF enorn-
Gus size. As soon as the snake was
clear of the grass he raised his head for
closer survey. The woman and the
man were about the same distance from
him, each being the side Of triangle.
As saw him hesitating about a choice,
| calmly reasoned that he would come
my way. He had two victims under
tree, and only one the other way. He
was long minute making up his mind,
and then he came creeping toward the
tree, head well up, eyes blazing, and
tongue darting in and out.
1t may be that the serpent saw the
sleeping man, but if 50 he had deter
mined on attacking me alone, perhaps
because was higher up and offered
him better show. When l realized
that he was certainly coming my way l
felt a tingle of excitement all through
my nerves, and at once shouted 20 the
sleeping servant. He cast off sleep and
sprang up, and | suppose this action
saved me, for the cobra had already
raised its head as high as the hammock.
As the native sprang up he could have
touched the snake. He saw it before
him, uttered a shrek of terror, and
next instant was victim. / saw the
snake strike him repeatedly in the face.
think the poor fellow lost conscious
ness with the first attack, for the one
scream was all he uttered.
The alarm seemed to 90 all over the
village In moment, and the people at
once hastened up with drums, articles
of tinware, and whatever would create
din. They also shouted at the tops
OF their voices, and for a minute or two
the cobra seemed undecided whether
to attack me or beat hasty retreat.
was sick and dizzy with the terror and
the odor, and made no move to help
myself. That was doubtless the wisest
policy. could have only emptied my
self out of the hammock upon the
ground beside him, and he certainly
would have resented my presence.
Twice he reared up as if he intended
to strike me, but the noise alarmed
him. A young man finally came rum
ming up with a blazing torch, and this
was hurled with such precision rs to
alight directly upon one of the cobra's $
folds. He must have been badly scorch-
ed, for he hissed as loudly rs an angry
gander, Topped himself about in a ter
rible way, and then went of to the jun
gle at a rapid rate. Then natives rush
ed to the aid of their poor fellow, who
was unconscious and moaning in a pitt
full way. They had half dozen reme-
dies on hand, but none of them was Of
tho least avail. He died in about thir-
ty-five minutes, and the corpse was one
of the worst sights ever beheld. 1t
turned green-black with the powerful
poison, and it swelled until one could
hardly believe the object bad ever been
human being. The natives examined
the face and reported that the serpent
had struck him five times.
About six weeks after the adventure
with the serpent and while lying in
camp about thirty miles distant, a fine
opportunity was given me to observe,
from a single standpoint, the character
istics of the rhinoceros, the tiger, and
a snake Of another species. We had
our camp in village which was half
deserted on account OF the proximity Of
a bad rhinoceros and two or three man
eating tigers. A bad rhinoceros, It may
be explained, is the same thing as a bad
elephant. 1t is one that has lost in a
fair fight his leadership, and is driven
away in disgrace. The rhinoceros
isn't social, like the elephant, and sell
dom more than two are found together.
Once in a while some old chap gets so
ugly that there is no living with him,
and he is deserted until the spell passes
off. While bad he will fight any thing
that walks, flies, or swims. and in his
blind fury he viii charge a thicket as
soon as a moving object. 49,.
About a mile from the village, and
reached by path through the forest,
was a pool, at which many wild ami
mails came to slake their thirst We
went over one morning and built a
platform for one of us to stand on in
the branches of a convenient tree, and
then hunted about until we found
places for my two companions on paths
which were beaten hard under the feet
of thousands Of animals. II was in the
dry season, and the pond was low
Therefore it might be expected that the
pool would be sought out by animals
from a great distance. Nothing of ac-
count came to it in the daytime, as ex-
perience had taught us. 1t is only after
sundown that elephants, the rhinoceros,
lions, tigers, panthers and such beasts
approach pool to drink, especially II it
is in hidden place. No doubt some of
them may go two or three days without
water, but the hunter who takes his
stand at pool is always certain of big
game OF some sort.
We set out for our stations about an
hour before sundown, each of us hay
ing native attendant to remain
through the night. just before we
reached the pool, and while my man
was trotting along a few feet ahead of
me, a iaguar leaped down upon him
from limb with loud scream The
beast rather overshot his mark, but
clawed the mans shoulder severely.
The native uttered shouts Of terror,
and / fired shot which missed the
baas II and ha liclal bie chops at mn i,,